Was he sired by Bhopu?
Fort Worth Zoo Fort Worth Zoo News
- Thread starter snowleopard
- Start date
Yes, he was sired by Bhopu and his mother is Alta.
https://www.papercitymag.com/culture/fort-worth-zoo-elephant-springs-new-habitat-rhinos/#337281
Elephant Springs is now open.
Elephant Springs is now open.
@snowleopard Thoughts on the new space based on these pics?https://www.papercitymag.com/culture/fort-worth-zoo-elephant-springs-new-habitat-rhinos/#337281
Elephant Springs is now open.
The exhibit yards themselves seem good - I appreciate the large pools and range of different terrains. I especially like the hose visitors can control to shoot water at the elephants, a really neat touch (I believe Audubon has something similar?). I do wonder why the zoo insists on having five off exhibit yards in favor of making the on exhibit spaces smaller, but it's a fine amount of space regardless, and because of Texas weather the elephants should be able to use the space year round.https://www.papercitymag.com/culture/fort-worth-zoo-elephant-springs-new-habitat-rhinos/#337281
Elephant Springs is now open.
What I can really appreciate is the theming. I don't recall any other zoo with thumbing like this for an elephant exhibit. It's like an Asian fishing village and it looks really good and complements the surrounding greenery very well. My only real complaint are those fake rocks that are a bit ugly, but its a minor mark on an otherwise really neat looking exhibit. I'm glad to see something a bit more unique than the average elephant exhibit.
However that Indian rhino exhibit looks awfully small by modern standards. Is that the entire thing?
The Indian rhino yard is very small sadly. It looks nice but would have been better for Malayan tapir or babirusa. From a quick estimation from google earth it is around 1/4 acre. That is not the whole yard though. As you can see below their will be a second yard, although it may very well be blocked off until the carnivore complex is completed in 2023.
Another thing I like about the complex is the amount of shade. Given Texas' summers it will be nice to have ample shade to watch the elephants from. I am excited to visit next month. Got to get there before the grass goes away
For reference here were the initial plans:
https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article250696169.html
This article states that the zoo wants to get a female rhino and has room for 4 more elephants, although they seem to suggest they will wait for their male Bowie to get slightly older.
This article states that the zoo wants to get a female rhino and has room for 4 more elephants, although they seem to suggest they will wait for their male Bowie to get slightly older.
The various photos and the walk-through video posted by @nczoofan give a clear indication of what to expect when visiting the zoo. The large pool, that goes through both main yards, is very impressive, as is the theming and the abundant shade. All of that grass will soon be gone, but in terms of aesthetics the new Asian Elephant complex is very impressive. However, it's simply too small in my opinion. I know that supporters of the zoo will point to the fact that there is the opportunity to rotate elephants through an enriched space, plus the social dynamics of the herd will be flexible with all of the different off-exhibit yards...but another acre or two would have been nice and the rhino yard looks to be mediocre.
At least Fort Worth Zoo is making significant progress. MOLA opened in 2010 and it's one of the zoo world's truly great Reptile Houses, and the African Savanna opened in 2018 and while it doesn't have a lot of species, it certainly seems very nice from photos. The elephant complex is obviously a huge upgrade on what was there before, and in a couple of years 'Hunters of Africa & Asian Predators' will open. 'Forests & Jungles' will be after that, meaning that Fort Worth has a very bright future.
With Dallas and Fort Worth having major zoos only around 40 minutes apart, both with approximately 1.1 million annual visitors, there has always been competition between the two. I have visited both of them twice and I've always been more of a Dallas fan, but there is clearly a sudden surge in quality happening at Fort Worth and that's exciting for zoo nerds in Texas!
I largely agree with @snowleopard, but will say the exhibit is 2 acres. Not massive, but the same size as the National Zoo's exhibit (with a smaller barn, although it's Texas). I think my biggest issue is I would have preferred at least one larger yard for the herd, instead we are left with the largest yard being comparable in size to the San Antonio's exhibit. This could have been remedied by dropping the Indian Rhinos, who aren't as necessary given the zoos commitment to black rhino.
Agreed. I really like Indian rhinos, but considering rhinos are already represented elsewhere in the zoo I also would have been in favor of dropping them in favor of a larger elephant complex.
As an aside, does anyone have an updated list of US elephant exhibit sizes? I believe Disney clocked in with the largest at around 10 acres, but what are some of the other mega complexes of the country?
Rhino yard appears to be about the same size as the one that was there before the construction. Only major difference is there's a lot less shade. The old one was more of a narrow corridor or an exhibit with a lot of trees overgrowing on it as you went up in elevation to the tiger exhibit.
I think as the plants grow they will provide more and more shade for the rhinos, though I do agree that they should have gone with Malayan tapirs and Visayan warty pigs instead.
As for the elephant yards, I do wish the zoo in the future would just consolidate at least one or two of the off-show yards into the on-show yards. I am curious as to why they did this, do elephants breed better in a more private setting? Houston's setup is very open, and they're popping out elephants like nobody's business! I'm a little puzzled by that aspect of the design but everything else looks SUPER impressive, the way they protected the trees while making said protection as nonobtrusive as possible should be prevalent in more zoos, IMO. As it stands, I'd love to pay Fort Worth a visit when everything is finished!
I’m excited to get down to see it or at least some photos in the gallery here. Im impressed with that I’ve seen thus far, though I’m not the biggest fan of the tires on the roof for a fishing village theme. I’m glad they’ve separated the space some- multiple yards increases the functionality of each yard and increases the potential to move groups or individuals around thus also keeping them enriched. It’s so nice to see the grass as well..we’ll see how long that lasts.
Yes. While he was born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, he had been living at the San Diego Zoo in the Urban Jungle rhino exhibit prior to his recent move to Fort Worth.
I'm not usually a bit of a critic of newer exhibits but honestly this is a unique approach to an elephant exhibit. The whole sort of poor rural area theming is a cool take, and I think it shows a good example of human elephant contact and provides a great setting.https://www.papercitymag.com/culture/fort-worth-zoo-elephant-springs-new-habitat-rhinos/#337281
Elephant Springs is now open.
Is the old elephant sign there? The big red one? It would be a shame if they got rid of it.
I believe the old elephant sign was actually moved to the main entrance, I'll see if I can find some recent pictures.
I forgot which YouTube video I got this screengrab from, but here it is!
(Also here's a couple bonus screengrabs of Elephant Springs, the last one might be the most interesting of the trio.)
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Male bachelor GOHRhino usually stay a few years at the Zoo untill SSP demands them elsewhere with space available.